Cable Theft Detection: Can Attempted Cable Theft Be Detected Before Damage Occurs?

When cable theft is discovered, the damage may already have been done.

The cable may have been removed or damaged, services may have been affected and repair work may already be required.

For organisations responsible for important underground cable infrastructure, this creates a different question: can attempted cable theft be detected while somebody is interfering with the infrastructure?

Cable theft can have consequences far beyond the value of the material stolen.

In May 2026, Openreach reported that since April 2024 copper theft across its network had resulted in:

• More than 100,000 people losing landline and/or broadband services
• 153km of cable being stolen
• An estimated 1.2 million working hours being diverted to repairing theft-related damage

These figures relate specifically to Openreach's network but demonstrate how cable theft can result in service disruption and significant repair work as well as the loss of the cable itself.

For an infrastructure owner, the impact therefore depends on what the cable is worth and what depends on it.

Underground cable infrastructure can extend across routes that are difficult to observe continuously.

CCTV can provide visual coverage of defined areas, while fencing, access control and other physical security measures can help protect buildings and compounds. Underground cable routes can continue beyond those areas. The challenge is therefore not simply establishing that a cable has been stolen.

Damage, a missing cable or a resulting service interruption may eventually make that clear. The challenge is gaining awareness of potentially damaging activity before reaching that point.

There is an important difference between detecting attempted cable theft and discovering that a theft has occurred.

A missing or damaged cable can tell an organisation that an incident has taken place. A resulting service interruption can do the same. Both may occur after the infrastructure has already been affected.

Cable theft detection has a different objective: identifying activity associated with attempted interference while it is taking place.

For underground cable infrastructure, this can be particularly important where the full route cannot easily be kept under continuous observation.

Yes. Physical interference around an underground cable route can create disturbances that can be detected while the activity is taking place. Remark Group's solution uses Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to monitor a dedicated sensing fibre installed alongside the protected underground cable infrastructure.

Disturbances associated with attempted cable theft and tampering can generate a real-time alert so that the activity can be investigated. The technology does not physically prevent somebody from attempting to access the infrastructure. Its role within the theft problem is detection.

For an explanation of DAS and how the monitoring technology works, read our complete guide to fibre optic monitoring for underground cable protection.

An alert indicates that a relevant physical disturbance has been detected around the monitored infrastructure. It does not by itself confirm that somebody is stealing the cable. The value of the alert is timing.

Rather than relying on a missing cable, physical damage or service interruption to reveal that something has happened, monitoring can provide awareness of a relevant disturbance while the activity is occurring.

The alert can then be investigated through the organisation's appropriate security or operational response.

In other words, detection provides awareness of potential interference; it does not provide automatic confirmation of the cause of that activity.

Concerned about cable theft across underground infrastructure? Speak to Remark Group about your cable route and the risks you need to monitor.